Cascade Horseman, July 2007

Atwood Ranch
By Kathy Peth • Photos by coco
Setting Up For Success
How many times have you bought a horse
wishing you’d gotten him before someone else had
messed him up? He pulls back when you tie him;
you can’t touch his ears; he has an unreasonable
fear of Big Horse-Eating Rocks, lariat ropes,
crumpled soda cans, or anything yellow He’ll
clamber over logs but hesitates, sucks back, and
makes wild leaps over ditches; he’s impossible to
catch; he pushes you out of the way to go through a
gate, or you have to drag him. You think maybe all
this could have been avoided if you’d had the horse
since he was a baby, but you’re just not set up to
do that. If only you could get a horse that had been
brought along the way you would do it if you had
the time…
Atwood Ranch is about breeding top
performance Quarter Horses. The ranch
stands stallions like I’ll Be Smart, Colonel Doc
Bar Chex and One Smart Peppy (Boot Scootin
Dually) at their Stony Creek Station (division)
in Orland, CA. The foals from the ranch’s
carefully gathered broodmare band, from
the finest bloodlines in the industry, are used
to build up the herd. They go into cutting,
reining, and cow horse pens at the hands of
some of the industry’s finest trainers, and are
offered for sale to discriminating horsemen
from all corners of the country.
Owner of this ranch and several other
properties, including a Brahman cattle
operation and a vineyard, Dr. Tom Atwood
has been talking horse training philosophy
with two (employees) of his ranch, managers
Mike and Catherine Sapienza. After meeting
with the Sapienzas’ mentors, Pat and Linda
Parelli, Atwood has launched a new Atwood
Ranch division, this one known as Atwood
Ranch Naturally. Based on precepts set out
by the Parelli Natural Horse•Man•Ship, the
new operation is dedicated to cultivating
confident, curious, willing, and naturallystarted yearlings, which will then be offered
for sale.
24 — Cascade Horseman, July 2007
They call it the Young Horse
Development Program. “Our mission at
the Atwood Ranch Naturally division
is to educate and develop these Atwood
Ranch-bred young horses utilizing the
philosophies, concepts, and principles of
Parelli Natural Horse•Man•Ship,” says
Catherine Sapienza. “We like to call it ‘Life
Skills 101’,” she laughs.
The new division is based on a 700 acre
ranch near Elk Grove, CA. The property that
combines green pastures, a playground full
of natural obstacles like logs and stumps,
along with corrals, creeks, and hills; a perfect
setting for handling horses “naturally.”
The current “natural horsemanship”
movement traces back about twenty years
to a seismic shift away from the idea of
“breaking” a colt, a process often based
on tying young horses down and forcing
submission. Working with horses in a
natural manner is now defined as training
based on the way a horse learns and
communicates in nature with other horses.
While this “natural” stuff is not a new
method for handling horses, it got a lot of
attention in this incarnation when horsemen
the likes of Ray Hunt, and brothers Tom and
Bill Dorrance started sharing their methods
with students the likes of Buck Brannaman,
and Pat Parelli. These were horsemen
who handled their animals in a way that
reflected a deep understanding and respect
for the way a horse sees the world, and a
willingness to work within that animal’s
intelligence to bring a horse along without
scaring him.
This is the philosophy Mike and
Catherine Sapienza have been studying with
the Parelli program for the last ten years
or so. They’ve been working for Atwood
Ranches for nine of those years, and it’s
only natural that they’ve been sharing their
excitement about this way of developing
young horses.
A breeding operation is in constant
motion, physically and genetically. Atwoodbranded horses represent years of using
the finest bloodlines to produce champion
performance horses. Dealing with excellent
bloodlines in an intelligent program means
there’s quality from top to bottom.
The ranch’s objective is to produce
sound, correct, good-minded, versatile
horses – just what the recreational
horseman, who makes up 80 percent of the
market – is looking for. Yet that towering
reputation for producing performance
champions intimidates some buyers, who
are pretty sure they won’t be able to afford
a horse, even a yearling, with the AR on its
left hip.
This even though, as Sapienza points
out again, it costs just as much to feed a
good horse as a poor one.
Atwood and the Sapienzas have
designed the program so there is a
price-point, they say, for everyone.
The broodmare band has, on paper,
been divided into three layers, mostly
representing the proven mares,
their daughters, and perhaps their
granddaughters, and their foals are priced
accordingly. This helps buyers get the
bloodlines they want at a price they
can afford.
Since horses sold through the
Atwood Ranch Naturally program are
primarily yearlings, marketing is not
aimed at the beginning horse owner.
Sapienza sees these horses attracting
people who have studied “natural
horsemanship” with any number
of clinicians now on the road and
producing instructional DVDs and
television programs.
Naturally
“I think we’re going to attract
a progressive ‘natural horseman’
who shares our philosophy and
has some elevated aspirations and
goals,” says Sapienza, “recreational
riders who may or may not want
to go to some weekend shows,
but who want the best bloodlines
they can get their hands on, with
a natural start. This is maybe
someone who has gone through
whatever program they’re
interested in with a couple older
horses and is ready to start over
with another one. They’re ready for
a little more challenge.”
Lessons for the Atwood babies
are basic, in fact the program
sounds a lot like a pre-school
to new learning opportunities,
confidence will be fostered;
achievement will be measured and
registered. There will be report
cards.
Knowing most horses see
the inside of more than one
trailer, young Atwood horses are
introduced, in careful increments,
to the pleasures of the road. They
learn how to go through gates, to
stand for the farrier, to ignore the
annoyance of clipping, they learn
the joys of bathing. They squeeze
into small spaces, they step over
obstacles, they learn to respect
fences and stalls and halter ropes.
The primary focus is on
building and maintaining
confidence, trust and
curiosity while learning
to respect and interact
safely with humans. The
idea is that building a
good basic foundation
of learning skills will
prepare each Atwood
Naturally graduate for
success in show pens,
woodland trails, and
larger pastures.
Since the whole
concept of Atwood
Kalley Krickeberg, Catherine Sapienza, Tom Atwood,
Ranch Naturally is in its
Linda Parelli, Pat Parelli, and Mike Sapienza.
infancy, the operation
has hired a Parelli
graduate to begin work with this
curriculum, and the objectives are
year’s crop of yearlings while also
similar. Students will play nicely,
listen when the teacher is speaking, helping to design the Atwood
curriculum. Kalley Krickeberg is a
pay attention, rest quietly, learn
Licensed Parelli Professional with
simple skills (instead of using
Global Aggregate Star Ratings
scissors, a colt will learn to give
(the Parelli program issues report
to pressure) and move around
cards). She has earned these ratings:
the school in an orderly manner.
Young Horses**, Colt Starting**,
Equine students will be introduced
Foundation Training*** and
Challenging Horses**. Krickeberg
left her post as Parelli’s Tour Horse
Supervisor to join the Atwood
operation.
Since this is the concept-year,
yearling students number about
twenty, and there are a dozen
two-year-olds. Older colts will
be started under saddle using
the same “natural” philosophy,
and then they’ll be given the
opportunity to learn about ranch
work, water crossings, bridges,
whatever the wider world has to
offer. As the program matures,
there may continue to be a few
older colts, but the focus is on
preparing and marketing yearlings.
Next year’s enrollment may be close
to 60.
When an Atwood Ranch
Naturally-started horse finds
a human partner, support for
the newly made collaboration
continues. Each horse leaves with
its own scrapbook complete with
photos, reports on how it has met
the benchmarks of the programs,
and information on bloodlines. The
Sapienzas keep in touch with new
owners via the internet as well.
As the program matures, there
will be more follow up services,
including assistance with reselling
the horse should that become
necessary, and annual challengeevents for horse and rider at the
ranch.
Part of the Atwood Ranch
Naturally experience includes
the invitation to “set a spell.” The
Sapienzas encourage prospective
buyers to visit for at least a
couple of days; cabins are in the
works. The Atwood team (crew) wants
to be sure the prospective buyer and
his prospective equine partner get a
chance to interact and mutually make
good decisions.
Good decisions and good
experiences—for horse and
rider—ensure a healthy equine
industry. Atwood Ranch
Naturally is positioning itself
to offer success for all the
people who buy its horses,
but primarily for the horses
it produces. It’s a win-win.
Kathy Peth lives on a working farm near Mount Vernon,
WA, where she and her husband raise cattle, small grains,
and seed crops. They have two
children and two grandchildren. They are involved in the
rodeo event Team Roping,
and Kathy, whose interests
run from jewelry making
to photography, has been
writing for publication in horse or cattle
magazines for fifteen
years.
Cascade
Casc
Ca
scad
sc
ade
ad
e Ho
Hors
Horseman,
rsem
rs
eman
em
an,, July
an
July 2007
200
2
007
00
7 — 25